Nigel Clough says there has been no contact from Nottingham Forest over the manager’s job at the City Ground – but admits football is “far too unpredictable to rule anything in or out”.

The Burton Albion boss turned down the opportunity of a Reds return, prior to the final completion of the takeover of the club by Evangelos Marinakis, as he held doubts about the stability of the club under Fawaz Al Hasawi.

Clough is again understood to be one of the names Forest have given consideration to, as they look for a replacement for Mark Warburton.

But the former Forest forward remained coy when asked about the chances of him following in his father’s footsteps by managing the club he spent the majority of his playing career at.

“It is exactly the same situation. There has been no contact,” Clough told BBC Derby. “There is nothing to rule out at the moment, it is just a case of ‘let’s see what happens in football’.

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“The chairman might give me a ring this afternoon and say ‘we are in the bottom three, it is not good enough. Thanks very much, but we are going to move on’ – and I might get the sack. Football is far too unpredictable to rule anything in or out.

“It makes it difficult when people keep asking questions about it, when there is nothing to answer.

“I haven’t really got any thoughts on the situation because I am manager of Burton Albion and, until that changes, my only focus will be on trying to beat Birmingham this weekend. Nothing else.

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“Middlesbrough won away at Sheffield Wednesday with one of the best away performances of the season. After the game the Middlesbrough manager was sacked and the Sheffield Wednesday manager was sacked. Three days later he gets a job in the Premier League.

“If anyone tries to work football out and the things that happen within it, will struggle to come up with any kind of logic.

“I thought Mark was unlucky in the sense that he only had nine months. They just avoided relegation last season and the team improved. He has young players in the team. He is very unlucky that he did not get enough time.

Former Forest boss Mark Warburton (Image: Mark Fear)

“It is bonkers out there. I am very fortunate to work for a chairman who has not sacked too many managers over the last 20 years. That says an awful lot about the stability at this club.”

Clough is used to dealing with speculation about his own future – which is something that began way back when he put Burton on course for the Football League.

“We had this over the period when we were first here. We used to get asked the same questions then. Back then I used to say ‘see you at the game on Saturday’. That is what I will say now. See you at the game on Saturday, unless something else happens,” said Clough, who sympathised with Warburton over his sacking.

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“The most successful clubs are the ones who stick with their manager and give them time to build.

“It is not very nice when it happens, not for yourself, but for your friends and family. When you get sacked in football, it is plastered all over the back pages and on television. Everyone knows you have been sacked.

“But you go into things with your eyes open. You try to make the best decisions you can for the club. But if you don’t think you are going to be there, it is very difficult.”